


The Boy at the Window

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'm surprised that's a tag that already exists, JUST, Like, Peter Pan References, Really cute, Sneaking In, Storytelling, also some sexual stuff, because i like writing jack and katherine as cute, in case that's what you like, timelines don't exist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 06:26:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4049614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the author completely disregards timelines and pretends that either J.M Barrie's "Peter and Wendy" novel was published about a decade earlier than it actually was or that the events of Newsies happened about a decade later than they actually did. In any case, Katherine tells Jack the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Boy at the Window

It was by pure coincidence that Katherine was reading "Peter and Wendy" when Jack tapped lightly on her window. She had been waiting up for him for almost an hour in the dim light of her bedroom and, anxious and needing a distraction, she picked up the book sitting on the nightstand. It was her favorite book from her childhood, one that her mother or a nanny used to read to her at bedtime every night. When she was that young, reading tales of Wendy and her brothers, she used to dream that one day a magical boy would arrive at her window and whisk her away in to the starry sky over New York. She, like any girl, dreamt of fairies and mermaids and something much more magical than her own world, and sometimes in the dark of night she would stare out her bedroom window at the stars - trying to pick out which one would lead her to Neverland. So, when Jack rapped lightly on the glass of her window, she had to stifle a laugh at the sight of it.  
“Hello, Peter,” She teased quietly as she opened the window. “Come to take me away to Neverland?”  
“Huh?” Jack furrowed his brow as he climbed into her bedroom, landing in a pool of silvery moonlight. He ignored her question and smiled, pulling Katherine in towards him. His arms looped around her waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck. They leaned in and kissed, melting in to each other in an instant. Jack moved down to her neck and Katherine felt her stomach flip in the best way possible, especially when he tangled his hands in her hair.  
“Missed ya,” He said, and Katherine couldn't help but grin. She kissed him again, pulling him down so they were both sitting on the edge of her bed.  
“I missed you, too, but make sure to keep your voice down,” She said, and playfully pressed a finger to his lips. “I don’t want my parents waking up.”  
“Dont’cha worry ‘bout me, I’ll be quiet as a mouse,” He whispered with that signature grin, taking her hand in his. He kissed her fingers softly, and then looked up with narrowed eyes. “Hey, uh, why d’ya call me Peter?”  
“What? Oh, from this book,” Katherine handed him J.M Barrie’s novel, and Jack started turning it around like he had never seen a book before. “Have you never heard of Peter Pan? Wendy, Michael, and John Darling? The Lost Boys -”  
Jack cut her off. “Yeah, I don’t get a lot a time for readin’,” He said with a half-smile.  
“Right,” Katherine took the book from him, the cover soft and worn from age. She chuckled to herself.  
“What, what is it?” Jack asked her, curling a lock of her hair around his finger. Everytime Jack came over he always had his hands all over her, cupping her cheek, kissing her neck, stroking her hair, entwining his fingers with hers. Katherine couldn’t get enough of it.  
“I was just thinking, you’re so much like Peter,” She said, holding up the book. “A youthful boy and his rogue band of orphans, meeting a girl from an entirely different world, working to fight the big bad adults.”  
"Is that what it’s about?” Jack asked. He took the book out of her hands and started flipping through the pages, stopping at the illustrations. Katherine watched him for a little bit, his eyes fixated on the ink and paper.  
“Well, it’s a little bit more than that, I guess,” Katherine whispered, hoping to suppress the excitement rising in her voice. She could feel herself about to tell a story to the boy who just climbed in to her bedroom window - just like Wendy Darling, a girl who got to go on the daring adventures she desperately wanted but never got. “It’s about a young girl who likes telling stories and playing make believe, but her parents want her to grow up. Then she meets Peter, who climbs into her bedroom window -”  
“That’s kinda creepy, don’t ya think?”  
“Shush, I’m telling a story - he climbs in to her bedroom window because he liked hearing the stories, and he wants her to go to his home with him. So Peter takes Wendy and her brothers to this island called Neverland, where she meets fairies and mermaids and indians. And she meets the Lost Boys, too, who have all forgotten about their parents, and want to be young forever."  
"Sounds like a few kids I know -"  
"And then they have to fight off Captain James Hook, a pirate with his crew who lives in a ship by Neverland and is trying to kill Peter -"  
"Why would someone try to kill a little kid?"  
"- and he kidnaps Peter's friends, but then they - oh, I've forgotten about the crocodile -"  
"Slow down, Ace, I can hardly keep up!" Jack laughed, and Katherine clapped a hand over his mouth. They laughed quieter then, and Jack took her hand away kissed her on the cheek. “I love your stories, Ace, but I dunno if there’s time for that tonight,” He said. “I need to get home before the guys notice I’m gone...or your parents notice I’m here.”  
"But you just got here," Katherine said softly, Peter and Wendy very much forgotten.  
"I know, but I've got to be up early in the morning. Can't afford any late nights."  
"Just stay," Katherine pulled him closer to her and she could see him desperately want to stay, want to wrap his arms around her and never let go. She started running her hands through the back of his hair, tracing down the nape of his neck as she leaned forward to kiss him. She never had to worry about being "too forward" with Jack - he didn't seem to mind. He sighed and cupped her face with his hands, touching his forhead to hers.  
"I'm sorry," He whispered. "I've really gotta be gettin' back to the Lost Boys, now."  
Katherine smiled and kissed him on the nose.  
"You've really never heard of Peter Pan before?" Katherine asked him, pulling away.  
"Didn't really get a lot of bedtime stories growin' up," He said, back to curling Katherine's hair around his finger, he cupped the back of her head and kissed her neck again, and Katherine's eyes fluttered shut.  
"That's so sad..." She murmured, and Jack chuckled, just a little.  
"That sums up most a my childhood, Ace," He said, and Katherine shook her head.  
"I just think about those kids at the lodging house...with no...parents, to tell them stories when they were younger or soothe them after a bad dream..."  
"Little late in the day to be gettin' all setimental," He teased, but there was a crack in his voice. "We's got each other, Katherine, you don't have to worry about us."  
Katherine smiled sadly. "Just like Peter. Always looking out for his family. Well, most of the time."  
"So I'm Peter," Jack grinned. "And what, that makes you - uh..."  
"Wendy," Katherine told him, and he chuckled.  
"Of course, Wendy," He said. "And what, that means you plan on tellin' the Newsies stories? Runnin' away with me to...uh...Nevah-land?"  
"Very funny, Jack," She shoved him a little and he shoved her right back. He underestimated his strength, however, and Katherine ended up on her back on the bed. She sat up just a moment to pull her on top of him, and they were kissing again. He was straddling her and she had her hands up and down his back under his shirt. When she started to pull it off he stopped and sat up, pulling Katherine up with him.  
"I'm real sorry, I'd love to stay, but I do have to get goin'. I only had time to say hello tonight," He said, climbing off the bed. Katherine was done protesting - she had to be getting her sleep as well. She slid open the window quietly and watched Jack climb silently out on to the fire escape.  
"Come back tomorrow night, or as soon as you can," Katherine said, and Jack just nodded.  
"Soon as I can."  
"And Jack?" Katherine asked, biting her lower lip. She smiled a little, in spite of herself. "I...I should like to give you a kiss."  
"Huh? Sweetheart, you can give me a kiss anytime you want -"  
Katherine laughed and pecked him quickly on the cheek. "Wait," she said, and grabbed her book from the night stand. "Here. Read it yourself, or read it to some of your Lost Boys if you're not to embarassed."  
Jack studied the book for a moment, then tucked it under his arm. "I'll see you soon," He said, and kissed her once more before disappearing to the darkened streets below. Katherine watched him go, then shut the window tight, changed in to her nightgown, and climbed under the warm covers of her bed.  
Later that week, when she returned home late from a dinner with her parents, she was happy to find a thimble sitting on the fire escape, just under the window.


End file.
